Riehm is the second candidate since August to announce a Republican primary challenge to incumbent Rep. Jo Bonner of Mobile. Both Riehm and Orange Beach businessman Dean Young are seeking to oppose Bonner from the right.

"We need fresh blood. We need to take a more aggressive stance," Riehm said. "Ten years is long enough. The game is changing; we need new players."

A Bonner spokesman declined to comment.

Riehm, 51, said that while he appreciates Bonner’s service and thinks the incumbent has "done a good job overall," he believes 5 terms is enough in Congress, and also takes issue with some of Bonner’s votes.

"We believe in term limits," Riehm said.

Asked whether he would commit to stay in Congress for only a certain number of terms if he wins, Riehm did not give a definite number. He said he thinks representatives should only remain in Congress for two or three terms, and added that he doesn’t plan to stay in Washington long.

Riehm kicked off his campaign with a tour around south Alabama that started at 5:30 a.m. Tuesday in Chatom and ended in the evening at Wintzell’s Oyster House in Mobile, in front of a lively crowd of about 200 people.

A cofounder of the Common Sense Campaign, which is a south Alabama group that identifies with the tea party movement, Riehm said that he would support whoever wins the GOP primary and would not consider a third-party run in the general election.

Riehm expressed displeasure with Bonner’s 2008 vote for the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, commonly known as TARP, as well as his support this summer for an increase in the federal debt ceiling — an "abominable" vote, in Riehm’s estimation.

Riehm noted that Alabama Republican Sens. Jeff Sessions of Mobile and Richard Shelby of Tuscaloosa, as well as freshman Republican Reps. Mo Brooks of Huntsville and Martha Roby of Montgomery, all voted against the bipartisan compromise deal.

Young voiced similar concerns when he announced his campaign last month.

Asked about the difficulty of beating an incumbent while also facing the potential of another conservative challenger splitting the vote, Riehm said he wasn’t worried.

"This is an uncommon year. The people are deathly afraid for their country," he said. "There’s an anti-establishment mood."